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The only reason why I recommend making extra cash on a sideline job

More and more people seem to be earning some money in addition to their “regular salary” these days.

According to a survey held by Intelligence, Ltd., one in five junior employees has a side job today.

One in five junior employees having a side job: Decreased from the time of economic downturn after the Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers

Earning some extra cash. Quite a few people, like illustrators, do it as part of their hobbies, but what is the actual number? Intelligence, Ltd. has found that 20.1％, or 1 in 5, of White-collar workers aging between 25-39 have a side job. The study also says women are more likely to have a side job than men, with the percentage of 27.9％ for women and 17.4％ for men. (Business Media )

Personally I feel the number of “1 in 5” is quite small. In fact, more and more major corporations are accepting their employees having a sideline job.

The trend could shake the traditional culture and employment structure of companies in Japan that have greatly valued the loyalty for a company in their employees. （４７news)

Then, what is their “side job”?

Actually, they are pretty simple. I hear people earning some cash by “Making a game commentary movie on Youtube”, “Blogging on the web with website advertising”, “Selling handcrafts online”, “Renting out their place through Airbnb”, “Working on programming or designing etc. through crowd sourcing”, “Writing novelson Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)”, “Selling pictures online” and so on.

There are few people who earn enough money on their side job to quit the regular work, but the average income is 43,000yen. That is pretty good as extra cash because it can be 500,000yen a year!

Leaving aside the money talk for now, let me emphasize this.

“The most importantly, you can practice your skill to make money” on sideline jobs.

A couple of days ago, I found an article below.

Five years later, you will not be working under your “BOSS” but for multiple companies.

Employees who do their tasks routinely just as they are told or are staying at work till late at night inefficiently are no longer be recognized as “Doing well” today. We now have to “create jobs”, not “find jobs”. （Leading&Co.）

I don’t know whether this analysis is right or not, but “Working for a single company, doing what it requires” seems quite risky, I agree.

Why? In today’s rapidly changing world, no one knows what the future holds. The shorter business life cycles increase the probability that your company goes bankrupt while you are still the employee.

Then, what should we do?

One approach could be to acquire a “Skill” of making cash. How large doesn’t matter. The important thing is to experience the basic trading process of “Creating, advertising and selling” all by yourself. The “Skill” is becoming increasingly important for companies, too.

Smart creatives are people who have special skills and knowledge, such professionals as computer scientists, medical doctors, designers, scientists, movie directors, engineers, chefs, mathematicians. He /She is a man/woman of action and capable of not only finding a good concept but also creating a prototype. Also, he/she has such a great business sense that he/she can apply his/her expertise to business by analyzing a product’s competitiveness in the market in pursuit of a success in business. In addition, he/she is a very passionate worker and willing to engage in a tough time-consuming task by putting a great deal of effort.

Becoming a “smart creative” might look very difficult and beyond your reach, but actually what they do is pretty similar to what some do on their sideline jobs. To create, advertise and sell something is, in short, just being creative.

Working as a consultant at a number of companies to help their hiring, I occasionally see candidates who have been devoted to the trading flow, “Creating, advertising and selling”. To me, they are very attractive because they are able to link what they can contribute to the company and what they do for their own sake.

“Why people do not buy what I have made?”

“Why people do not read what I have written?”

“Why people do not use what I have created?”

Wondering day and night and constantly re-trying, they continue to challenge. To tell the truth, that is the best and the most efficient way to improve business skills.

You can enjoy games, TV programs and shopping on your holiday as a consumer, but if you keenly hope to catch up or get ahead of the trend, you might really want to try “Creating, advertising and selling” by yourself instead.